Entertainment

Apple's first scripted TV effort will reportedly star Dr. Dre

This May 15, 2013 file photo shows hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre as he announces a $70 million dollar donation to create the new &quot;Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts and Technology and Business Innovation,&quot; at the University of Southern California, in Santa Monica, Calif.

According to a new report, Apple is producing a new scripted television series with Dr. Dre.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the story about the series, titled Vital Signs. The show is said to be semi-autobiographical; Dr. Dre will reportedly executive produce and star in the project. Apple acquired Beats — a company Dre co-founded — in 2014.

Each episode of the series — it's said to have a six episode order — will focus on a different emotion and how Dre's character deals with it. Sam Rockwell and Mo McCrae will reportedly star as well.

Perhaps as interesting as the series itself is how it will be distributed: The Hollywood Reporter says that will more than likely come via Apple Music.

Although Apple Music is primarily an audio product, it does feature music videos. In December, Taylor Swift released her concert film, The 1989 World Tour, exclusively on Apple Music.

For years, there have been rumblings of Apple's interest in creating original content à la Netflix and Amazon. Initially, it seemed like the end goal would be to create a video offering that could sit along the Apple TV.

But as those efforts have cooled, it would make sense for Apple instead to focus on Apple Music as a distribution center for video content. After all, Apple Music video content is viewable in iTunes, on iPhones, via Android and on Apple TV.

Moreover, making a TV series part of Apple Music would help further differentiate the service from its biggest competitors. Apple Music now has 11 million paying subscribers — and it's clear that the company is focused on catching up with Spotify as quickly as it can.

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